Expandable shoe and shoe assemblies

ABSTRACT

An improved expandable footwear and inner assembly are disclosed. The footwear has a foot dressing, an adjustable inner assembly disposed within the foot dressing and a stiff member. The adjustable inner assembly has two outwardly extending members, and the stiff member has a channel to nestle the two outwardly extending members to resist undesirable rotation of the inner assembly. The inner assembly has a control for controlling the dimension of the footwear which includes a concave-shaped urging member, that when depressed, allows the footwear to expand or contract, and when not depressed, prohibits such movement.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to provisionalpatent application Serial No. 60/514,456 entitled, “Improved ExpandableShoe and Shoe Assemblies,” filed on Oct. 24, 2003.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to expandable shoes that may be adjustedlongitudinally.

2. Discussion of Related Art

Some attempts have been made to provide expandable shoes, which canpurportedly withstand day-to-day use. U.S. Pat. No. 3,389,481, forexample, discloses a shoe in which a two plate assembly is disposedbetween an inner and a disjointed outer sole, having overlapping frontand back portions. One of the plates includes a spring tongue, and theother plate includes two apertures to receive the spring tongue, eachaperture corresponding to a shoe size. To adjust the shoe size, a screwwhich extends through the heel and into the disjointed soles is removed.The shoe may then be pulled apart allowing the disjointed sole toseparate until the spring tongue engages the next aperture. Thus theshoe size may be lengthened by one size, but apparently the size cannotbe controlled finely or reduced. The shoe includes two crinkled leatherportions 34, one on each side of the shoe, to facilitate expansion ofthe shoe.

WO 01/33986 describes an expandable shoe. The expandable shoe includesan outer shell having a front and a rear outer assembly each attached toa flexible, expandable segment. An adjustable inner assembly is disposedwithin the outer shell and includes a control mechanism, accessible fromthe outer shell, that may be urged from a lock state into a state inwhich the inner assembly and outer shell may be adjusted. Avisualization window provides a view port to the inner assembly.

Though WO 01/33986 details a desirable expandable shoe design, certainimprovements thereto have been discovered to improve ergonomics,torsional rigidity, handling, and the construction of the shoe.

SUMMARY

Under one aspect of the invention, an expandable shoe is provided whichincludes a front outer assembly, and a rear outer assembly. Anexpandable segment attaches to the front and rear outer assemblies todefine a shoe outer shell and the expandable segment extends at leastpartially along each side of the outer shell and transversely across thebottom of the outer shell. An adjustable inner assembly is disposedwithin the outer shell and has a first board portion and a second boardportion in overlapping engagement with each other. The inner assemblyalso includes a control to adjust the position of the first boardportion relative to the second board portion and to thereby adjust adimension of the inner assembly and thereby a corresponding dimension ofthe shoe.

Under another aspect of the invention, the control includes a lockingmechanism shaped to engage and hold one of the first and second boardportions, a biasing mechanism to bias the locking mechanism intoengagement with one of the first and second board portions; and anurging member having a proximal portion external of the shoe outer shelland positioned and movable transversely to a longitudinal direction ofthe shoe and in transverse alignment with the locking mechanism.

Under another aspect of the invention, one of the first and second boardportions include transversely extending teeth, and the locking mechanismincludes transversely extending teeth and the urging member include arod portion having at least two diameters. The locking mechanismincludes an aperture in alignment with the rod portion and the crosssection of the aperture is larger than the smaller of the at least twodiameters but smaller than the large of the at least two diameters. Whenthe urging member is moved, the rod portion contacts and moves thelocking mechanism with the larger of the two diameters.

Under another aspect of the invention, one of the first and second boardportions includes an upward-facing cavity containing the control. Theopening to the cavity is covered by the other of the first and secondboard portions when the first and second board portions overlap.

Under another aspect of the invention, one of the first and second boardportions includes at least one groove extending longitudinally and theother of the first and second board portions includes a correspondingrail in alignment with the groove. The rail is positioned within thegroove as the first and second board portions overlap.

Under another aspect of the invention, at least one of the first andsecond board portions includes a lattice support structure.

Under another aspect of the invention, one of the first and second boardportions includes an index of notches and the other of the first andsecond board portions includes a protrusion in longitudinal alignmentwith the index and extending toward the index. When the first and secondboard portions are moved relative to one another, the protrusioncontacts the notches.

Under another aspect of the invention, the footwear has a foot dressing,an adjustable inner assembly disposed within the foot dressing, and astiff member. The adjustable inner assembly has two outwardly extendingmembers, and the stiff member has a channel to nestle the outwardlyextending members to resist undesirable rotation of the inner assembly.

Under another aspect of the invention, the inner assembly has a controlfor controlling the dimension of the footwear. The control includes aconcave-shaped urging member, that when depressed, allows the footwearto expand or contract, and when not depressed, prohibits such movement.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

In the Drawing,

FIGS. 1 and 2 show shoe designs according to certain embodiments of theinvention;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal cross sectional view of a shoe according tocertain embodiments of the invention;

FIGS. 4A-B are exploded views of expandable last boards according tocertain embodiments of the invention;

FIGS. 5A-C show features of expandable last boards according to certainembodiments of the invention;

FIGS. 6 and 7 show an exemplary control mechanism in two states;

FIG. 8 shows a perspective view of a stiff member according to oneembodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 9 shows a cross section of an urging cap according to oneembodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Certain embodiments of the present invention provide improvements to theergonomics, torsional rigidity, handling, and construction of the shoedesigns disclosed in WO 01/33986. That reference in conjunction withU.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/438,935 is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show two shoe designs under certain embodiments of theinvention. With reference to FIG. 1, shoe 10 includes a front outer sole12 and a front upper 18 to form a front outer assembly 13, and a rearouter sole 16 and a rear upper 20 to form a rear outer assembly 17. Thefront outer assembly 13 is attached to one edge 15B of a bellows segment14, and the rear outer assembly 17 is attached to a second edge 15A, ineach case using conventional techniques, such as by using stitching tothe uppers 18, 20 and glue along the outer soles 12, 16. The combinationof front outer assembly 13, rear outer assembly 17, and bellows segment14 forms an outer shell 21.

An alternative shoe 20 is illustrated in FIG. 2. One principaldifference in shoe 20 relative to shoe 10 is the bellows 22 of shoe 20does not completely surround the shoe, whereas bellows 14 of shoe 10 isa unitary bellows enveloping the circumference of the shoe.

Similarly to that described in U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/438,935, an adjustable inner sole assembly is placed within outershell 21. An externally-accessible manual control is urged via cap 24and is used to place the inner sole assembly in a state in which it maybe adjusted. When the control is in its natural state (i.e., when it isnot urged transversely) it is in a lock state to hold the shoeadjustment fixed. Cap 24 is concave-shaped as shown in FIG. 9. Theconcave-shaped cap provides more comfort to the user who manuallyoperates the control than a flat-shaped or convex-shaped cap wouldprovide.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of an exemplary shoe 10.As can be seen in this view, an adjustable inner assembly 30 ispositioned within the outer shell 21 and is generally formed from twopieces 31,32 which are shaped to engage and move relative to one anotherin overlapping relationship. The overlapping and engaging inner assembly30 provides a relatively rigid last board for desirable foot support. Inthis embodiment, rear piece 31 is partially positioned within a heelsection of the shoe 10 and includes the control mechanism 41, discussedbelow, which allow the shoe to be adjusted in size. The shoe includes atwo piece inner last board 33, 34. This two piece inner last is madefrom materials, e.g., cloth, used for conventional last boards and isattached or sewn to the outer shell. Over the inner last is a two pieceinner sole 36 and 37 made from conventional materials, e.g., foam, andshaped to overlap one another so that the pieces slide as the shoe sizeis adjusted.

FIG. 4A is an exploded view of one embodiment of the inner assembly 30in relation to rear outer assembly 17. The inner assembly 30 includesfront last board piece 31 and rear last board piece 32 positioned inoverlapping, slidable and engaging relationship, as will be describedmore fully below in connection with the description of other figures.The front piece includes a downward facing cavity 40 (shown better inother figures) into which a control mechanism 41 is positioned. Plate 46is mounted on the front piece 31 over the cavity 40 and encapsulates thecontrol mechanism within the cavity, protecting it from glue and othersubstances used in the construction of the entire shoe. On the bottomsurface of plate 46, shoe size indicia or adjustment indicia may beprinted, engraved, labeled, or the like. The heel portion of the innerassembly 30 is positioned within a heel support 47. A plate 48 havingmagnification window 49 is fixed to the rear piece 32 by protrusions orthe like to align the window 49 with the indicia on the bottom surfaceof plate 46. Cap 24 is fit over the proximal end of pin 45 and theentire assembly is fit within rear outer assembly 17 and the othercomponents of the outer shell 21.

FIG. 4B is an exploded view of another embodiment of the inner assembly30. In this embodiment, the front piece 31 has an upward facing cavity(not shown) into which the control mechanism is placed. The bottomsurface of the cavity is integrated into the front piece 31 (as opposedto an attached plate 46), and the control mechanism is encapsulated bythe rear piece 32 being positioned over the opening of the cavity. Thebottom surface of the front piece, like the plate 46 of the priorembodiment, includes shoe size indicia or adjustment. The bottom surface34 of the rear piece 32 has a cutout (not shown), through which theindicia may be observed. In particular, a magnification window 49′ isattached to the bottom surface 34 of the rear piece 32 in alignment withthe cutout and through which the indicia may be viewed. This figureshows the inner assembly being used with a midsole, 17′ having anattached outer sole 17″. The midsole 17′ has a channel 82 to nestle thetwo outwardly extending members 84, 86 (shown in FIGS. 7 and 8) of theinner assembly to resist undesirable rotation of the inner assembly.FIG. 4B shows a midsole 17′, but it is understood that other stiffmembers may be used to provide a channel to nestle the outwardlyextending member.

With reference to FIGS. 3, 4A, 6, and 7, the control mechanism 41 has anatural, locked state in which a toothed member 42 engages teeth 62integrated with or attached to the front piece. The locked stateprevents the front and rear pieces 31 and 32 from being movedlongitudinally relative to one another. By sufficiently pushing pin 45of the control mechanism 41 in a transverse direction relative to thelast board's longitudinal direction, the last board may be placed in anunlocked state in which the toothed member 42 disengages the integratedor fixed tooth segment. Consequently, the front piece 31 may be movedlongitudinally relative to the rear piece 32. The longitudinal movementis constrained by the extent of the longitudinal apertures 35, one oftwo of which is shown in FIG. 3. As the front and rear pieces 31, 32 aremoved relative to one another, different indicia will align with themagnification window 49, 49′.

The control mechanism 41 of either embodiment includes a toothed member42, a biasing spring 43, a support guide 44, and an urging pin 45. Theteeth of the toothed member 42 are shaped and spaced to engage withteeth 62 (shown in FIG. 6 and 7) integrated into or fixed to a wall 64of the cavity 40 facing the teeth of the toothed member 42. FIG. 6 showsthe support guide 44 and spring 43 biasing the toothed member 42 intoengagement with the integrated teeth. This “locked” state prevents thefront piece from moving longitudinally relative to the rear piece 32.

Pin 45 has a first section 45A of a relatively larger diameter and asecond section 45B of a relatively smaller diameter. The pin 45 is sizedto fit through aperture 33 in rear section 32, through longitudinal slot35 (shown in FIG. 3), through the control mechanism 41, and into anotheraperture corresponding to aperture 33 but on the hidden side of the rearsection 32. More specifically, the larger diameter section 45A fitsthrough aperture 33 but is too large to fit through the central aperture42A of toothed member 42. The smaller diameter section 45B, however, issmall enough to fit through the central aperture 42A of member 42 andaperture 44A of support 44. The support 44 includes a circularprotrusion 44C which defines the aperture 44A and which fits into theaperture corresponding to the aperture 33 but on the hidden side. Thus,as the pin 45 is pushed through the aperture 33, the larger diametersection 45A eventually contacts toothed member 42 but does not passthrough it. Continued pushing of pin 45 will thus cause the toothedmember 42 to move transversely and compress spring 43 against support44. Circular recess 44B of support 44 helps keeps the components insecure alignment. Sufficient pushing of the pin 45 will cause the teethof member 42 to clear and disengage the integrated teeth of front piece31, as shown in FIG. 7. This “adjustment” state allows the front piece31 to be moved longitudinally relative to the rear piece 32, while theteeth are so disengaged. The number of teeth and the spacing in betweenteeth may be made to index to known adjustments. For example, the amountof teeth and spacing may be made to correspond to a range of sizes 13 to1 and allow half size increments 13, 13.5, 1.

FIGS. 6 and further illustrates an end cap 75. The end cap has acylindrical protrusion 77 to fit into aperture-defining portion 76 anddefines an aperture 78 to receive a distal end of pin 45. The capfurther encapsulates the control mechanism protecting it from glue andother debris during manufacturing and use of the shoe.

Though the control mechanism and states are shown and described withreference to the embodiment of FIG. 4A, the operation and components arethe same for the embodiment of FIG. 4B. The embodiment of FIG. 4Brequires the control mechanism (except for pin 45) to be assembledwithin the cavity of the front piece 31 before the front piece isarranged with the rear piece but it has the advantage of improvedencapsulation and protection from glue used in shoe assembly.

FIGS. 5A-C show certain improvements to the design of the front and rearpieces relative to embodiments shown in WO 01/33986. The rear piece 32is generally shaped like the rear piece disclosed in WO 01/33986 havingslots 51 and 52 to accept the wings 53 and 54 of the front piece 31 sothat the front piece may slide within rear piece 32 in an overlappingrelationship. When fully contracted curved sections 55 and 56 of thefront piece 31 contact curved walls 57 and 58 of the rear piece 32.Unlike the design shown in WO 01/33986, the rear piece 32 includes tworails 59 and 60 protruding up from the major surface of the rear piece32, and the front piece includes two slots 61 and 62 shaped to receivethese rails. Because the rails protrude from the major surface they helpinhibit transverse sliding of the front and rear pieces and improve thetorsional rigidity of the last board 30.

The top surface of the front piece 31 includes a notched or teeth shapedindex 63 and a nib 64 to provide ergonomic feedback to the user when heor she is adjusting the shoe size. The index 64 is in longitudinalalignment with a nib 64 on the underside of rear piece 32. The notchesor teeth are positioned to correspond to shoe size adjustments. The nib64 contacts the teeth or notches of index 63, and thus providesresistance to the user pushing or pulling the two pieces 31,32 togetheror apart, when the teeth 64 do not align with the teeth of toothedmember 42. When the teeth 64 and the toothed member 42 align, the nibwill be positioned in a valley or recess of the index 63 and thusprovide no resistance to the user, giving the user the tactile sensationof no resistance and signaling that the shoe size adjustment is inalignment.

FIG. 5C shows the bottom surface of front piece 31 and illustrates thelattice-shaped support structure 66 integrated into the front piece.Though other arrangements may be substituted, the structure 66 providesimproved torsional rigidity in the midsole area while allowing some ofthe material of the front piece 31 to be removed and to thus reduceweight.

The shoe designs of FIGS. 1 and 2 are exemplary. The principles of theinvention may be manifested in embodiments including running shoes,biking shoes, ski boots, dress shoes, snow boarding boots, sandals andthe like. Depending on the shoe type, the inner assembly may be in theform of a last board, or a combination of a last board and a midsole, ora midsole. Likewise, depending on the shoe type, the materials used willbe selected to provide a desired amount of flexibility or rigidity.Moreover, depending on the shoe design the outer shell may differ. Inthe case of a sandal, for example, the outer shell would only havestrapping. Other embodiments, such as a biking shoe, might have eithernetting, meshing, or no material where the bellows are shown, thusproviding increased ventilation.

Moreover, the above embodiments described a flexible segment made of abellows-shaped material, but other embodiments may use other materials,e.g., stretchable nylon, netting or meshing, or it may be omitted.Likewise all of the control features described had external features toactivate the control, but other embodiment (e.g., cost-reducingembodiments or embodiments where hiding the control is desirable) mayplace the control mechanisms on the interior of the outer shell.

While the invention has been described in connection with certainpreferred embodiments, it will be understood that it is not intended tolimit the invention to those particular embodiments. On the contrary, itis intended to cover all alternatives, modifications and equivalents asmay be included in the appended claims. Some specific components,figures and types of materials are mentioned, but it is to be understoodthat such component values,-dimensions and types of materials are,however, given as examples only and are not intended to limit the scopeof this invention in any manner.

1. Footwear, comprising: a foot dressing; an adjustable inner assembly,disposed within the foot dressing, and having at least one outwardlyextending control member; and a stabilizing member having a channeladapted to receive the at least one outwardly extending control memberto resist rotation of the inner assembly.
 2. The footwear of claim 1wherein the inner assembly has two outwardly extending control membersand the channel is adapted to receive the two outwardly extendingmembers.
 3. The footwear of claim 1 wherein the foot dressing has anupper foot portion and a sole portion and the stabilizing member is incontact with the upper foot portion and the sole portion.
 4. Thefootwear of claim 1 wherein the foot dressing has a toe portion and aheel portion and the stabilizing member is in the heel portion.
 5. Thefootwear of claim 1 wherein the stabilizing member is a midsole.
 6. Thefootwear of claim 1 wherein the channel is U-shaped and the at least oneoutwardly extending control member is cylindrical.
 7. The footwear ofclaim 1 further comprising a rod extending through the at least oneoutwardly extending control member.
 8. Footwear comprising: a footdressing and an adjustable assembly, at least a portion of which iscoupled to the foot dressing, the adjustable assembly having a firstmember and a second member in overlapping engagement with each other anda control integral to the footwear to adjust the position of the firstmember relative to the second member and to thereby adjust a dimensionof the adjustable assembly and thereby a corresponding dimension of thefootwear, the control having a manually depressible concave-shapedmember that, when depressed allows the first and second members to bemoved relative to each other and when not depressed, inhibits suchmovement.
 9. Footwear, comprising: a foot dressing; and an adjustableassembly, in contact with the foot dressing, the adjustable assemblyhaving a first member and a second member, each shaped for relativemovement with respect to the other; and a manual adjustment assemblyhaving a concave shaped portion thereof manually accessible from thefoot dressing and another portion thereof engageable with an engagementmember fixed to one of the first and second members, wherein theengagement member is translationally urgable to at least one of twostates, in which a first state allows the first and second members to bemoved relative to each other to adjust a dimension of the footwear andwherein the second state inhibits such movement.